When BreakingUp is Easy to Do
by RaucousLaughter
Summary: Lavender thinks she catches Ron and Hermione spending time alone together in the boy's dorm. We know there's a lot of shouting, but what did she say? Just my musings of how the conversation went. J.K. Rowling's world. I'm happy to play in it.


Ron and Hermione walked down the stairs after Harry, filled with apprehension. They did not see how going to Hagrid's would help Harry with Slughorn, but he seemed set on it. They seriously hoped he knew what he was doing. If the Felix Felicis wouldn't help him obtain that memory, what would?

**"What were you doing up there with **_**her**_?" Lavender Brown screeched in a voice Hermione had never heard before. The shrillness caused Ron to stop dead in his tracks.

"Huh... oh, we were just..." Ron sputtered, looking at the ground, the walls, anywhere but Lavender's eyes.

Hermione tried to slip away, but Lavender rounded on her as well.

"I suppose you thought you could just steal some alone time with _my _boyfriend," she accused, her eyes piercing. Of course, Harry had been wearing the invisibility cloak. Lavender would certainly jump to conclusions about what the two of them had been doing up there. Hermione blushed, thinking of how many times she'd dreamt of doing exactly what they were being accused of. She hoped no one noticed.

"We weren't alone, we were just with Harry," Ron said.

"You expect me to believe that?" she shouted. No, he supposed he didn't. She wouldn't have seen Harry.

"I _thought _we had plans tonight..."

"Well, plans change, don't they," Ron said weakly. He looked to Hermione for help, but she merely gave him a somewhat bemused look that said "you're on your own."

"_Plans change_," repeated Lavender mockingly, her voice filling with rage. "You can be so dim-witted Ron Weasley! Do you honestly think that's an appropriate way to treat your _girlfriend?" _Lavender's voice was so loud that almost everyone in the common room was staring. Hermione wished she was anywhere but there, however much she hoped this one-sided shouting match would end in an official break-up.

"Well, when I started dating you, I _planned _to have you all to myself, but _noooo. Plans change! _I suppose I should have known all along, you two spend so much time together..." Lavender raged.

"She's one of my best friends..." said Ron

"I guess that's something I'll never be to you! You don't even confide in me. Well, don't let me stand in your way. If you prefer a stuck-up, know-it-all bookworm to me..."

"Don't call her that," Ron snapped.

"So you don't deny it!" Lavender screamed. She looked daggers at Hermione. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, and though Hermione normally thought she was quite pretty, she had to admit that anger did not look good on her. "We're finished, Ron Weasley. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's infidelity!" with that Lavender raced up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, pushing past Ron so hard she was sure to bump her shoulder against him. She cried loudly, and Parvati, who'd been in the common room too, raced up after her. She looked apologetically at Ron and Hermione. Ron simply stood there, speechless. He turned timidly to Hermione, who looked rather satisfied.

"I'm sorry about your break-up," Hermione said, the corners of her mouth struggling not to turn up into an all-out grin.

"No you're not," Ron said knowingly, "nor am I."

"And you didn't even have to do anything...just like you wanted..." Hermione said shaking her head with some disapproval. "I have to share a room with her."

"Sorry about that. We can't very well tell her about the cloak, can we? I suppose she'll just have to go on hating you until she gets over me."

"Wonderful..."

"I'm only joking. It won't last long. I'm sure I'm no great loss." said Ron. Hermione's face turned pink once again, but she didn't reply. She realized she and Ron were standing rather close to each other, and that everyone was staring at them, clearly having heard Lavender's accusations. Ron cleared his throat.

"Alright you lot, back to work. Prefect business. Mind yourself before I take five points off all of you. That'd be a right shame for Gryffindor." Ron said to their audience.

"You don't have to be so harsh, Ron," said Hermione, who was chuckling. If only he took _actual_ prefect duties this seriously, he'd be a good candidate for Head Boy. Ron sighed and the two of them found a corner with two empty chairs.

"Fancy a game of chess?" Ron asked hopefully.

"No thank you, Ron. _I _didn't drink any Felix Felicis, tonight."

"You think Harry will really be able to convince old Slughorn? If he even makes it to him, that is."

"I hope so. All we can do is wait and see...trust the Felix, I guess. Harry seemed to."

"Yeah..." Ron trailed off, he was looking up towards the door to the girl's dormitory. Hermione followed his gaze and sighed.

"I hope I didn't hurt her feelings...Lavender's, I mean." he said. "That's why I didn't end it before. I just didn't know how...not without hurting her."

Ron looked back at Hermione with red ears. Of all people, she was the last person he'd expect to be discussing this with. Hermione listened patiently and was torn between admiration that he'd wanted to spare Lavender some heartache and frustration that _she'd _suffered heartache instead.

"Well, she does seem hurt, and upset..." Hermione said honestly. "But you didn't _do_ anything wrong. I suppose you could have fought harder, not defended me, said something mean about me..."

"Hermione, I wouldn't..."

"Oh, you know what I mean. If you'd wanted to keep her around, you could have come up with something. But obviously, if she's not someone you want to be with, then it's only more hurtful to string her along. And it's no fair to you, either."

"No, it's not," Ron said, looking at Hermione with the softest expression she'd ever seen. She returned the look and imagined her insides turning to mush. For a split second she felt as though she _must_ have taken some Felix Felicis. "You're right. It had to end sometime and she never took any of my previous hints. If this was what put her over the edge and convinced her I'm not right for her...then that's that. Besides, she's not that far off, is she..?."

"What?"

Ron turned a bright lobster red.

"I mean, no, we weren't up to anything worthy of her accusations, but...oh bloody hell... what I'm trying to say is...you and me... that's not so...unbelievable...is it?" Ron finished, looking hard at the ground. Hermione was flabbergasted. Her face went hot and her heart pounded double in her chest. Ron simply wouldn't look up. She had to get out of her chair, kneel down on the ground and look up at him. She gave him the same soft look she'd given him moments ago and shook her head 'no.' Just then, Ginny came rushing up to them.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you!"

"Sure, what's up?" she asked, trying to ignore her racing heart.

"I mean in private. Girl talk," she said looking at Ron. Hermione figured it must be significant if she was interrupting alone time with Ron. Ginny knew how precious it was to her, but she had no idea how precious the last few minutes had been.

"I'm just going to bed," said Ron, standing up graciously.

"Where's Lav Lav?" asked Ginny, sneering.

"That's over," Ron replied, eyes on Hermione.

"Oh, Thank God!" exclaimed Ginny, who had less tact than Hermione. "She made you miserable!"

"Yeah, well..." Ron didn't have much to say to that. He wasn't about to tell his sister that'd he'd have been spared the whole thing if Ginny hadn't told him Hermione'd snogged Krum once upon a time. He headed up the stairs to the boys dorm without saying another word, he just waved to Hermione, looking bashful.

"Let's go to my room.." Ginny said. I don't want the whole of Gryffindor to know the inner-workings of my love life." Hermione followed Ginny up to the fifth year dorms, her thoughts still with Ron and the ending of his relationship with Lavender.

"Say, Ginny...do you think I could stay in your room tonight?"

"Why?"

"Something tells me, I won't be very welcome in mine..."

"Of course. We'll conjure a cot."

Hermione then realized that if she spent the night out of her own bed, Lavender might assume she was staying with Ron.

"Oh, forget it. Now that I think about it, that might just make things worse. I'm a Gryffindor after all, I can handle the wrath of Lavender Brown."

"You've dealt with far worse...wait a minute. You're the reason they split up? Did something finally happen with you and my brother?"

"No...not yet. But she's under the impression it did...and he didn't work very hard to correct her. He wanted it to fall apart..."

"That's a big step for him," said Ginny brightly. "Cheers!" Hermione just laughed. "I broke up with Dean," she said as they rounded the corner to her room. "He thinks it's because he coddles me, but really we had a fight about Harry. I made the right choice. Dean's a fine bloke, but Hermione, there's a war coming. I think we should spend time with the ones we really care about."

"You know, Ginny. I think you're right."

Hermione couldn't help but worry that her time with Ron would end before it began. Right now, Harry was hopefully discovering the key to destroying Voldemort once and for all, and she had no idea how arduous a task that would be. She did know that whatever it was, Harry and Dumbledore would have to take care of it, and she and Ron would do whatever they could to help.

The End


End file.
